The Cotswolds is a constituency[n 1] in Gloucestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative, since its 1997 creation.[n 2]
The Cotswolds | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Gloucestershire |
Electorate | 78,439 (December 2010)[1] |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 |
Member of Parliament | Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Cirencester and Tewkesbury |
For the next general election, the seat will be abolished and split into two smaller constituencies: North Cotswolds and South Cotswolds, in order to even up voter numbers relative to other constituencies[2][3]
Election | Member[4] | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | Conservative | 1992–1997: represented Cirencester and Tewkesbury. |
The Cotswolds is a safe Conservative seat.[5][6]
The largest town in the constituency is Cirencester, a compact traditional town. Other settlements include Andoversford, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Campden, Fairford, Lechlade, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury (and the neighbouring village of Doughton, location of Highgrove, the Prince of Wales's estate), and Wotton-under-Edge.
The seat has the highest number of listed buildings of any constituency in Britain. It also contains eight of the 20 most popular attractions in Gloucestershire, including Westonbirt Arboretum, Hidcote Manor, and Chedworth Roman Villa.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.6% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[7]
This was also the constituency that, when declared during the 2015 UK general election, saw the Conservatives win a surprise majority, in which David Cameron was re-elected as prime minister; a hung parliament had been widely expected.
The constituency was created in 1997 as Cotswold, mostly from the former seat of Cirencester and Tewkesbury. In 2010 the name was changed to The Cotswolds to reflect the commonly used name of the area.
2010–present: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud wards of Kingswood, Minchinhampton, and Wotton-under-Edge.
1997–2010: The District of Cotswold, and the District of Stroud ward of Wotton and Kingswood.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be abolished for the next general election, with its contents distributed to two new constituencies:[2][3]
Wotton-under-Edge will be transferred to Stroud.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 35,484 | 58.0 | -2.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Liz Webster | 15,270 | 25.0 | +8.7 | |
Labour | Alan MacKenzie | 7,110 | 11.6 | -6.3 | |
Green | Sabrina Poole | 3,312 | 5.4 | +2.5 | |
Majority | 20,214 | 33.0 | -9.3 | ||
Turnout | 61,176 | 74.7 | +0.4 | ||
Registered electors | 81,939 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | −5.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 36,201 | 60.1 | +4.1 | |
Labour | Mark Huband | 10,702 | 17.9 | +8.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Andrew Gant | 9,748 | 16.3 | −2.3 | |
Green | Sabrina Poole | 1,747 | 2.9 | −1.7 | |
UKIP | Chris Harlow | 1,197 | 2.0 | −8.9 | |
Independent | Sandy Steel | 107 | 0.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 25,499 | 42.3 | +4.8 | ||
Turnout | 59,702 | 74.2 | +1.8 | ||
Registered electors | 80,449 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | −2.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 32,045 | 56.5 | +3.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Paul Hodgkinson[13] | 10,568 | 18.6 | −10.9 | |
UKIP | Chris Harlow | 6,188 | 10.9 | +6.7 | |
Labour | Manjinder Kang | 5,240 | 9.2 | −1.5 | |
Green | Penny Burgess | 2,626 | 4.6 | +2.9 | |
Majority | 21,477 | 37.9 | +14.4 | ||
Turnout | 56,667 | 72.4 | +0.9 | ||
Registered electors | 78,292 | +2.0 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | +7.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 29,075 | 53.0 | +3.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mike Collins | 16,211 | 29.6 | +1.5 | |
Labour | Mark Dempsey | 5,886 | 10.7 | −7.9 | |
UKIP | Adrian Blake | 2,292 | 4.2 | +1.0 | |
Green | Kevin Lister | 940 | 1.7 | N/A | |
Independent | Alex Steel | 428 | 0.8 | N/A | |
Majority | 12,864 | 23.5 | +2.2 | ||
Turnout | 54,832 | 71.5 | +4.2 | ||
Registered electors | 76,728 | +2.3 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | +1.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 23,326 | 49.3 | −1.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Philip Beckerlegge | 13,638 | 28.8 | +4.6 | |
Labour | Mark Dempsey | 8,457 | 17.9 | −4.7 | |
UKIP | Richard Buckley | 1,538 | 3.2 | +0.3 | |
Independent | James Derieg | 392 | 0.8 | N/A | |
Majority | 9,688 | 20.5 | −5.6 | ||
Turnout | 47,351 | 66.7 | −0.8 | ||
Registered electors | 71,039 | +4.2 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | −2.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 23,133 | 50.3 | +4.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Angela Lawrence | 11,150 | 24.2 | +1.3 | |
Labour | Richard Wilkins | 10,383 | 22.6 | −0.1 | |
UKIP | Jill Stopps | 1,315 | 2.9 | N/A | |
Majority | 11,983 | 26.1 | +2.7 | ||
Turnout | 45,981 | 67.5 | −8.5 | ||
Registered electors | 68,157 | +1.2 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | +1.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 23,698 | 46.4 | −8.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | David Gayler | 11,733 | 22.9 | −10.4 | |
Labour | David Elwell | 11,608 | 22.7 | +11.8 | |
Referendum | Rupert Lowe | 3,393 | 6.6 | - | |
Green | Valerie Michael | 560 | 1.1 | - | |
Natural Law | Henry Brighouse | 129 | 0.3 | - | |
Majority | 11,965 | 23.4 | +2.4 | ||
Turnout | 51,121 | 75.9 | −6.5 | ||
Registered electors | 67,333 | +5.9 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |